Cartridge



F. M. THOMAS.

CARTRIDGE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 191B.

1 ,328,3Q7, Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

of the charge of shot or the bullet.

UNITE STATE FATNT FFICE.

FRANK M. THOMAS, OF CATSKILL, NEW YORK.

CARTRIDGE.

Application filed January 31, 1918. Serial No. 214,674.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. THOMAs, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Catskill, in the county of Greene and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridges; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. I This invention relates to cartridges or shell structures commonly used in rifles, machine guns, shot guns or the like and the primary object of the invention is to provide a cartridge or shell containing an incendiary projectile which will set fire to any thing it strikes. v

More specifically, the object of this inven tion is to provide a container which is constructed of foraminous material and con tains a charge of phosphorus and slow burning material such as tar, pitch, rosin, or the like which container is placed within an or-.

dinary cartridge or shot gun shell in lieu A. parafflned ,wad is placed at the innerend of the phosphorus container and the shell casing is preferably paraflined or constructed of water proof material so that the necessary water or other liquid may be placed within the shell to prevent the ignition of the phos- 'phorus until desired, without injuring the construction of the shell or injuring the eX- plosive used for projecting the incendiary projectile. v

With the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective yiew of a shell constructed in accordance with this invention and having parts of the shell or cartridge casing broken away.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the incendiary charge or projectile.

Fig 8 is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the cylinder of combustible material which is Specification of Letters Patent.

plalced within the formaninous container, an

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the incendiary cylinder which is placed within the foraminous container.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the cartridge or shot gun shell casing, as an entirety, which is constructed in the usual manner, embodying the head 2 which carries the percussion cap 3 that ignites the explosive charge of powder 4. The powder charge or projecting charge 4 is confined within the shell 1 proper by means of a plurality of wads 5, of the ordinary construction, and as is usual in'the construction of shells of this nature. The outermost of the wads 5 preferably is coated with paraffin or similar water proofing material as indicated at 6, so as to prevent liquid which may be placed within the shell casing 1 outwardly of the wadding 5 from entering the portion of the shell which contains the explosive charge 4. I

A foraminous container 7 is placed within the shell casing 1 outwardly of the wads 5 and it contains a charge of combustible material which is ignitible. upon engagement with the air. The foraminous container 7 has its outer end rounded as shown at 8, so as to provide stream lines during its travel through the air and it is also provided with an opening 9, formed in the end thereof which extends centrally through both ends of the casing 7 and alines with a corresponding opening 10 formed centrally within the charge 11 of inflammable or combustible material so that when the casing 7 is projected through the air by the discharge of the projecting or powder charge 4 the air will pass centrally through the openings 9 and 10 and ignite the material 11. causing the same to 'set fire to anything which it touches.

wad and the foraminous container 7 in' proper position within the shell. When the shell is charged, a suitable liquid, which may be water, kerosene or' any other desired liquid is placed within the shell casing so as to immerse the charge 11 of combustible ma-. terial, to prevent the accidental ignition of the same. During the first few feet of the flight of the container or projectile 7, the water or liquid will be forced out of the foraminous container 7, and the air rushing through the openings 9 and 10 will ignite the combustible or inflammable material, causing it to leave a path of fire in its wake, and ignite anything which is inflammable, upon which particles of the material 11 fall.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, the combustible or inflammable material 11, which is preferably phosphorus and slow burning material such as pitch, rosin, tar or the like,is shown in a solid cylindrical form provided with the central opening 10, but it is to be understood that this charge may be made up of a plurality of sections, as indicated at 11 in Fig. 5 of the drawings, which sections owing to the unevenness of their facing edges or surfaces will provide air spaces in dicated at 15 between the various parts, thereby allowing the air to travel in tortuous paths through the charge 11 of combustible material to ignite the same.

The incendiary projectile may be pro jected or thrown through the air in many ways without departing from the spirit of this invention: for instance, it may be shot with an arrow from a bow, thrown by a sling, projected or thrown from a tube by compressed air or springs, or by any other known means of projecting or throwing such devices.

Under certain weather conditions. such as extremely cold weather, the combustible material may not light or ignite during the flight of the projectile through the air, however when the projectile strikes an object, the friction created between the projectile and the object hit will ignite the combustible material.

In immersing the projectile, to prevent accidental ignition thereof. ether may be used as well as any of the liquids previously men tioned.

In reducing the invention to practice, certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may necessitate alterations to which the patentee is entitled provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An incendiary shell or cartridge including a casing. an explosive projecting charge in said casing, a projectile carried by said casing. said projectile including a combustible material adapted to be ignited upon contact with air. and a liquid immersing said combustible material.

2. An incendiary shell or cartridge including a casing, an explosive projecting charge in said casing, an incendiary projectile carried by said casing. said projectile including a foraminous casing, and a combustible material Within said casing and adapted to be ignited upon contact with air, and a liquid immersing said combustible material.

3. An incendiary shell or cartridge including a casing, an explosive projecting charge in said eating, an incendiary projectile in said casing and including a foraminous container, and a combustible material within said foraminous container, adapted to be ignited upon contact with air, said container and combustible material provided with alining centrally disposed openings to permit the passage of air therethrough during the flight of the projectile.

4. An incendiary shell or cartridge including a casing, an explosive projecting charge in said casing. an incendiary projectile in said casing and including a foraminous container, and a combustible material within said foraminous container, adapted to be ignited upon contact with air, said container and combustible material provided with alining centrally disposed openings to permit the passage of air therethrough during the flight of the projectile, a liquid immersing said combustible material, and means for preventing the engagement between said liquid and said explosive projecting charge.

5. An incendiary projectile including a foraminous casing, and a combustible material within said casing and immersed in a liquid. said combustible material adapted to be ignited upon contact with air.

6. In an incendiary shell or cartridge, a casing, an explosive projecting charge in said casing, a projectile, said projectile including combustible material adapted to be ignited upon contact with air and a slow burning combustible material adapted to be ignited by the burning of the first mentioned combustible material, said combustible materials being immersed in a liquid.

7. In an incendiary shell or cartridge, a casing, an explosive projecting charge in said casing. a projectile carried within said casing and including a foraminous container, a combustible material in said container adapted to be ignited upon contact with air, a slow burning combustible ma- .terial within said container adapted to be ignited by the burning of said first named combustible material, said container and combustible materials provided with openings to permit air circulation through the combustible material during the flight of the projectile.

8. In an incendiary shell or projectile, a casing, and a combustible material within said casing including an ingredient adapted to ignite upon contact with air, and a relatively slow-burning ingredient adapted to be ignited by the first mentioned ingredient. said slow-burning ingredient being adapted to adhere to a surface, said combustible material being immersed in a liquid to prevent premature combustion.

9. In an incendiary shell or projectile, a casing, a projectin charge Within said casing, a projectile Within said casing, a liquidproofed Wad separating said projecting charge and said projectile, said projectile containing a combustible material adapted to be ignited upon contact with air, said projectile being immersed in a liquid, but a 10 liquid'and air-tight seal in the outer end of said casing.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

. FRANK M. THOMAS.

Witnesses RoHE MEYER, KATHRYN A. GoRWm. 

